John Kuntz/The Plain DealerLeBron James celebrates after scoring during the Cavaliers win over Chicago on Wednesday night.

The forgotten man

In the battle for minutes at the two, somebody was going to get left out. Right now that player is Sasha Pavlovic.

After playing 31 minutes in the first two games, Pavlovic has quickly fallen out of the rotation. He's played just nine minutes in the last three games, and has taken just two shots. It's a surprising development.

Today's links

LeBron loves team's 'loaded bench' "Mike Brown began the season trying to use 10 players, but he's shortened his rotation to eight over the last two games, both impressive victories. The starting lineup...has remained the same throughout, but the only bench players Brown has used when the last two games have been in doubt have been Daniel 'Boobie' Gibson, Wally Szczerbiak and Anderson Varejao." -Rick Noland, Chronicle-Telegram

Math with Darius "Things are quiet on the Darius Miles front, despite Danny Ainge's testimonial on Miles behalf that he can still play. It's been pretty well-documented that the Portland Trail Blazers stand to lose a lot of money and cap flexibility if Darius Miles suits up for 10 NBA games this season. " Henry Abbot, TrueHoop

I've never been the biggest Sasha Pavlovic fan. He's one of those frustrating players that seems to have potential but never quite gets it. He's not a strong finisher at the rim and is a streaky shooter at best. His biggest advantage is that he's 6'7" and, in theory, could easily find minutes at the two or the three.

But unlike Delonte West - a player that doesn't do anything great but does a lot of things well - Pavlovic hasn't done anything in the last two years to prove he's a difference-making player.

The unfortunate thing for Pavlovic is Mike Brown has show a preference for him. In the "actions speak louder than words" department, it was Sasha Pavlovic who got minutes in the playoffs last season (especially in Game 7 in Boston) while Damon Jones and Devin Brown stayed glued to the bench. Many thought Pavlovic, because of his size, would earn the starting nod at the two this year. And against Boston on opening night the offense ran through Pavlovic when LeBron James, Mo Williams and Zydrunas Ilgauskas all sat at the same time. Pavlovic, however, couldn't take advantage of the opportunity.

If the Cavs are healthy, I don't think we'll see much of Sasha. Wally Szczerbiak hasn't exactly been lighting it up, but he's getting the bulk of the minutes right now. Take away Wally's 4-for-6 against New Orleans and he's shooting 6-for-18 from the field, including just 2-for-8 on threes. On top of that, he's failed to make a three in four of the Cavs first five games. But Wally's played 64 minutes in the last three games. Perhaps it has something to do with him getting to the line 13 times in those three games.

"Seriously, did you even read the article Adrian Wojnarowski wrote before posting this garbage? Why Detroit? You dont think clearing almost 33 million in cap space could sign Lebron AND another All star type player?" -BG2008

Ultimately, what it comes down to is neither player is that impressive. But right now it's clear that Wally Szczerbiak is the most effective option. His $13 million expiring deal could dramatically change the rotation at the trade deadline, but for now it appears he's moved ahead of Sasha Pavlovic.

Still, just as in years past, an injury or a trade could thrust Pavlovic right back into the rotation. The question then, as it always seems to be, is will Sasha finally deliver or will it just be more of the same?

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